Are npower delaying FiT payments deliberately?

unsure

I had a pv solar system installed last November and nearly six months on I have yet to receive my first payment from npower. It took npower until Feb 2012 to process the application during which time they were very poor at keeeping in touch, answering emails etc. Since then they have repeatedly asked for duplicate information and for documents to be resent. It is all but impossible to speak to the FiT team on the phone (which the swtichboard has acknowledged).

I finally got an email on 6 March confirming they had all the information they needed to make a FiT payment then on 16 March I got a letter dated 24 Feb demanding the same duplicate information which they already had yet again, and threatening to withhold payment unless it was provided.

They've consistently failed to produce the complaints procedure I've asked for or to act on my complaints. It all seems to have gone way beyond mere incompetence and I am now wondering if npower is employing a policy of deliberately delaying and obstructing FiT payments, possibly in order to hold onto the money themselves as long as possible?

I am very close to making a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman and would like to know if any other npower customers have had a similarly frustrating experience (or a good one!) in completing what should be a pretty simple process to get their FiT payments.

Sorry for long post. Any thoughts welcome.

spaine

I don't think its just Npower .. EON has been terrible too !

3.5 months after installation and I still don't have a contract .. and who knows when the 1st payment will be made :eek:.

Its so frustrating

energysavingexp

npower make payments 4 times a year you need to send in your meter reading before 25th march to recieve payment in mid april

unsure

energysavingexp,
I sent reading on 1st March( had wanted to send one for December window but they did not get the paperwork done in time, despite saying they would). On 6th March I got them to acknowledge that they had the reading and all the information they needed to make a payment.

Out of the blue on 16 March a letter arrived (letter dated 24 Feb but sent on 15 March) demanding the same information again! This is not the first time this sort of duplication has happened which is why it appears this may be way beyond mere inefficiency/incompetence and makes me wonder if there is a settled policy of delay supported by duplication, misinformation and unresponsive/unhelpful customer service.

In fact, that letter puts the reading deadline at 10 April. However, I am loathe to submit another reading to them beyond the one they have acknowledged as, on past performance, it would simply give them room to delay further by confusing the two.

I am trying to find out if other customers have had similar difficulties or whether I really have just been extraordinarily unlucky in my dealings with npower over several months. At the moment a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman looks likely to be my next step

undaunted

Nothing would surprise me with these people but I don't know the answer as to how common this is for certain.

This may however be of help to you
http://www.npower.com/idc/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@resi/documents/digitalassets/fit_complaints_process.pdf

There is also a relevant thread here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3512647

and you may find that writing to the Guardian produces sudden results! See http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/sep/30/npower-solar-feed-in-tariff

Good luck

unsure

Thanks for that undaunted. I've just had a response from npower...to say they'll respond by the end of the day! I'm not holding my breath and will start drafting the Ofgem complaint if/when they yet again fail to do what they promise.

***UPDATE***
After promising at 1144 they would "reply shortly today"I got a call at 5.15pm to say they are "still looking into it" and promising to resolve the matter "tomorrow" (they were unable to clarify which of the undisputed facts require clarification!) ...we all know when tomorrow comes don't we! There's nothing to resolve they've had all the information they need at every stage along the way. They are either incompetent or untrustworthy, possibly both. Ombudsman here we come.

amboy

Ditto for EDF, installed Nov and still no contract

Terrylw1

Stick with it, once its in a complaints circle it becomes more public to higher parties.

The complaints teams won't be able to resolve complex issues as they will be a go-between who access billing experts to get it sorted. Its these billing experts that you need to speak to who can resolve issues far faster as they are trained to do so. As long as they have a vlid contract and your reads to issue the FIT payment, it should be easy enough but bare in mind refunds from big companies go through lots of double checking delays so get the sum and when they requested it plus the method in writing. Then after X days you can re-raise the complaint if it doesnt happen.

newtonflotman

I applied to EDF on 26/11/11 for FIT. Got confirmation all received and ok before December deadline, but still waiting for my contract. If you ring up you just get told we are slowly working through them !!!! Forgive me but I wouldn't think they have exactly been inundated with applications for Mid December to Feb. Looks like then I will have to wait 90 days for my money.:think:

drusy_2

I am also with NPower and had my system installed in November, there was some delay, as I had heard nothing from them up until February. I then discovered that they had sent me an email, but had got the email address wrong by one letter. After this glitch, everything has been OK, sent my meter reading in on 6th March and am now awaiting my first payment (hopefully).

Regards Drusy

unsure

Persistence pays off! At 1715 today npower emailed,(after a reminder that they'd promised to resolve the issues today) to say that they can confirm they have all the information they need, we can ignore the latest duplicate paperwork and should have our first FiT payment paid into our bank account in 3-5 working days.
Still thinking of taking it to the Ombudsman though as the whole painful process has been time consuming, frustrating and would have been unneccessary if they'd done their job right from the outset.